BACKGROUND: To monitor the performance of histocompatibility testing laboratories, HLA proficiency survey in Korea has been conducted biannually since 1996. In this report, we summarized the results of the surveys performed in recent two years (2005-2006). METHODS: A total of four proficiency surveys were performed, in which 59-61 laboratories participated. Each survey included three tests for HLA class I (serology and DNA) and class II (DNA) typing and six tests for HLA crossmatch. RESULTS: The overall concordance of serologic typing was 98.9% (355/359) for HLA-A, 97.5% (350/ 359) for HLA-B, and 94.7% (337/356) for HLA-C. The antigens assigned correctly by less than 95% of the participating laboratories were A26 (93.8%), B38 (94.2%), Cw3/Cw10 (90.9%), Cw6 (94.4%), and Cw8 (74.3%). The overall concordance rates of DNA typing were 99.6% (533/535) for HLA-A, 99.8% (539/540) for HLA-B, and 100% (392/392) for HLA-C. Correct assignment of HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 was reported by 99.2% (98.1-100%) and 96.7% (88.9-100%) for the generic level and 100% and 95.8% (75-100%) for the allelic level, respectively. On the average 3.8% (0-7.7%) of the total laboratories showed unacceptable results in the crossmatch tests. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of correct antigen identification and of unacceptable crossmatch were similar to those of previous surveys, which were considered satisfactory. The Korean proficiency survey program may have contributed to a high quality of HLA tests today and should be continued for further improvements of the tests tomorrow.
Alleles ; Data Collection ; HLA Antigens/*blood/genetics ; HLA-A Antigens/blood/genetics ; HLA-B Antigens/blood/genetics ; HLA-C Antigens/blood/genetics ; HLA-DQ Antigens/blood/genetics ; HLA-DR Antigens/blood/genetics ; Haplotypes ; Histocompatibility Testing/*standards ; Humans ; Korea ; Laboratories ; Quality Control

BACKGROUND: The HLA system is known to be the most polymorphic genetic system in human, and HLA allele and haplotype distribution varies widely among different ethnic groups. This study was performed to examine the frequencies of HLA alleles and haplotypes in Koreans. METHODS: We examined HLA-A, -B, and -DR alleles at the serologic level in 1,500 cord blood units obtained from Koreans using the PCR-sequence specific oligonucleotide (SSO) method. Allele and haplotype frequencies were estimated by the maximum likelihood method using the computer program developed for the 11th International Histocompatibility Workshop. RESULTS: HLA alleles found in Koreans were 12 in A, 31 in B, and 13 in DR loci. Most frequent alleles with frequencies > or =10% in each locus in decreasing order of frequency were: A2, A24, A33, A11; B62; DR4, DR15, DR9, and DR13. Two-locus haplotypes with frequencies > or =0.1% were 104 A-B and 115 B-DR haplotypes, among which those with frequencies > or =1.0% showing significant positive linkage disequilibrium (P< or =0.001) were 21 A-B and 20 B-DR haplotypes. A total of 169 A-B-DR haplotypes with frequencies > or =0.1% were identified. The results were similar to those of a previous study in 1,600 Koreans, although some differences were noted in the distribution of some less frequent alleles or haplotypes with frequencies < or =0.5%. CONCLUSIONS: We provided the allele and haplotype frequencies of HLA-A, -B, and -DR in cord blood units of Korean ethnicity defined by a DNA typing method, which can be used as basic data on Koreans for organ transplantation and disease association studies.
Fetal Blood ; *Gene Frequency ; HLA-A Antigens/classification/*genetics ; HLA-B Antigens/classification/*genetics ; HLA-DR Antigens/classification/*genetics ; *Haplotypes ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Korea ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

This study was aimed to investigate the corelation between the HLA (human leukocyte antigen) genes and susceptibility of leukeamia. 605 patients with leukeamia including 189 ALL, 184 AML and 232 CML were selected for this investigation. 900 normal umbilical cord blood samples from umbilical cord blood bank were used as control population compared to the leukemia patients. HLA-A, B, C typing was done by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (SSP-PCR). The results showed that frequencies of HLA-A*26, A*68, B*56 in ALL patients were higher (4.46%, 2.65%, 1.17%), as compared with controls (2.31%, 0.95%, 0.22%), HLA-CW*06 in ALL patients was lower (3.64%), as compared with control (11.65%). In AML patients HLA-A*01 (9.41%), B*37 (3.60%) was higher and A*33 (3.60%), B*51 (4.73%) were lower than those in controls (3.57%, 1.75% and 7.64%, 7.93%). HLA-A*32, B*27, B*44, B*54, B*55 (2.18%, 3.96%, 5.06%, 4.63%, 2.84%) in CML patients were higher than those in control (0.84%, 2.04%, 3.07%, 2.44%, 1.29%). These results suggested that positive association may exist between certain HLA-class I genes and leukemias. These preliminary data may be useful for further study on the mechanisms of leukemia pathogenesis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Alleles ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-C Antigens ; genetics ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I ; blood ; genetics ; Humans ; Leukemia ; blood ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic

In order to study the genetic status of a rare chimeric family, some samples of A(3)B(3) family were identified by sequencing of ABO gene; flow-rSSO and PCR-SSP were used to detect loci of HLA-A, B, DRB1 genes, and multiplex amplifying with fluorescence-dye were performed for 16 short tandem repeat (STR) loci. The results indicated that two individuals from A(3)B(3) family contained more than two alleles at ABO gene, HLA-B, DRB1 and some STR loci. In conclusion, analysis of chimeric blood group by using genotyping techniques clearly demonstrating genetic status of this rare chimeric blood group promotes further elucidation of the existing state of specific genetic status.
ABO Blood-Group System ; genetics ; immunology ; Adult ; Chimerism ; Female ; Genotype ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Male ; Pedigree ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; genetics

The current study analyzed the data of 4 000 umbilical cord blood (UCB) units collected in Shandong Cord Blood Bank from the end of 1999 to March 2001. The averages of nucleated cells and CD34(+) cells were more than 1.2 x 10(9) and 3.9 x 10(6) per UCB unit respectively, and more than 1.5 x 10(9) nucleated cells per UCB unit were obtained in 768 UCB units. These UCB units are suitable for transplantation in patients with a body weight greater than 40 kg. The analysis of HLA gene frequency showed that A2, A24, A11, B13, B51, DR15, DR7 and DR9 are the common halotypes in Shandong population and similar to those in the other areas of China. 40% patients could search out at least 1 UCB unit with 1 mismatched HLA locus in Shandong Cord Blood Bank.
Antigens, CD34 ; immunology ; Blood Banks ; Blood Preservation ; Cell Count ; China ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; Gene Frequency ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Leukocytes ; cytology ; immunology ; Time Factors

The study was aimed to investigate the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, B, DRB1 alleles and haplotype frequencies and the characteristics of linkage disequilibrium in north Chinese Han bone marrow donors. HLA phenotype data of 11 755 north Chinese Han bone marrow donors were identified by PCR-SSP and PCR-SSO. HLA-A, B, DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies were calculated by computer software named Arleguin which was based on Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithms. The results showed that the population of 11755 unrelated-donors was tested by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and 18,42 and 15 specificities of HLA alleles were identified on the HLA-A, B, DRB1 locus respectively, including HLA-A25, B42, B53, B73 and DR3 which were rarely reported in Han population. HLA-A36, A43, A80, B78, B82 and DR18 were not detected in this study. The most frequent alleles with a frequency of over 0.05 were HLA-A*02, A*11, A*24, A*33, A*30, A*01, A*03, A*13, B62, B*51, B*46, B60, B61, B*35, B*44, DRB1*15, DRB1*09, DRB1*04, DRB1*07, DRB1*12, DRB1*11, DRB1*14, DRB1*08, DRB1*13. There were a total of 2 026 kinds of HLA-A-B-DR haplotypes (with a frequency of over 10(-6)) to be obtained. The each frequency of 26 kinds of three-locus haplotypes including HLA-A30-B13-DR7, A2-B46-DR9, A33-B58-DR17 etc was higher than 0.005. A30-B13-DR7 was the most frequent haplotype in north Chinese Han population. There were a total of 538 kinds of haplotypes for HLA-A-B, 227 kinds for A-DR and 522 kinds for B-DR to be obtained, and there were 409, 195, 423 kinds of haplotypes respectively with a frequency higher than 10 - 6. There were 28 kinds of HLA-A-B haplotypes including A30-B13, A2-B46, A33-B58 etc, 26 kinds of HLA-A-DR haplotypes including A2-DR9, A2-DR15, A30-DR7 etc, and 24 kinds of HLA-B-DR haplotypes including B13-DR7, B46-DR9, B13-DR12 etc with a frequency higher than 0.01. 296 (72%) kinds of HLA-A-B, 130 (67%) kinds of A-DR and 308 (73%) kinds of B-DR haplotypes were statistical linkage disequilibrium. HLA-A30-B13, A33-B58, A1-B37, A30-DR7, A33-DR13, A1-DR10, B37-DR10, B8-DR17, B13-DR7, B58-DR17 were significant positive linkage disequilibrium. It is concluded that this HLA-A, B, DRB1 gene and haplotype frequencies and linkage disequilibrium data with the largest sample size up to now is unique in north Chinese Han population. The study will be helpful to find matched donors for patients and establish the important foundation for further studying of transplantation immunity, HLA-related diseases and population genetics of this area.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Blood Donors ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Registries

The objective of the study was to research the distribution features of HLA-DRB1 alleles in Shandong Hans' population and explore the possibility of finding the cord blood donor of HLA-DR matched to perform the stem cell transplantation for more patients from larger region of China and even other areas in the world. The subjects of the study were drawn from 3 438 Shandong Hans donors in Shandong Umbilical Cord Blood Bank and were tested by PCR-SSP technique for HLA-DR low resolution typing. The result indicated that the most prevalent five alleles of HLA-DRB1 locus were DRB1 * 15 (0.1817), * 07 (0.1369), * 09 (0.1221), * 04 (0.1084) and * 12 (0.1038). The DR18 has the lowest gene frequency 0.0003, while DRB1 * 10, * 16 and * 01 showed lower gene frequencies (GF), which GF were 0.0151, 0.0262, and 0.0322 respectively. As compared the HLA-DRB1 GF of Shandong Hans with those of other Han Chinese and other ethnic populations, there were unique distributed features of DRB1 alleles among various races populations, and those among the studied population groups from various regions with the same race origin. The difference from various regions in the same race was less than that among different races. In conclusion, a patient of Han Chinese is easier to search a DR-matched cord blood donor in Shandong Umbilical Cord Blood Bank, especially from northern Hans. No DRB1 allele is unique to single racial group and majority of DRB1 low-resolution phenotypes are common to all studied groups. It is reasonable for some patients from other races including Caucasian and Japanese to receive a transplant of cord blood stem cell matched with HLA-DR in Shandong Umbilical Cord Blood Bank.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Blood Donors ; European Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Fetal Blood ; immunology ; Gene Frequency ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans

To study the gene polymorphism of HLA-A, B, DRB1 alleles in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia and to explore the correlation of HLA with chronic myelogenous leukemia, the polymerase chain reaction-reverse sequence specific oligonucleotide (PCR-RSSO) was used to analyze the polymorphism of HLA-A, B, DRB1 alleles of 293 CML Patients and 406 randomized and synchronous blood donors (healthy and unrelated with patients) from Guangdong Han population. The results indicate that the gene frequency of HLA-A*24 in CML group was 15.53% lower than that of control group (22.09%, RR = 0.63, p = 0.005); the gene frequency of HLA-B*13 in CML group was 10.41% higher than that of control group (6.74%, RR = 1.68, p = 0.016). The gene frequency of HLA- DRB1*14 in CML group was 7.51% lower than that of control group (11.89%, RR = 0.58, p = 0.008). The differences were all statistically significant. It is concluded that the gene frequency of HLA-A*24, HLA- DRB1*14 in CML patients is significantly lower than normal people in Guangdong. The gene frequency of HLA-B*13 in CML patients is significantly higher than normal people in Guangdong. Further study is needed to make sure whether HLA-A*24 and HLA- DRB1*14 are protective gene markers for CML acquisition on Guangdong Chinese Han population and whether HLA-B*13 is a gene marker for CML susceptibility on this population.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Blood Donors ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; HLA-A24 Antigen ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; HLA-B13 Antigen ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; metabolism ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; genetics ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

This study was aimed to investigate the correlation between HLA gene distribution and allele frequency of the patients with leukemia. PCR-SSP technique was used to detect the HLA genotype of 2994 umbilical cord blood units from healthy newborns (as control), the detecting result of which was compared with HLA genotypes of 1246 patients with leukemia searched in our cord blood bank. The differences between two groups were compared and analyzed. The results indicated that as compared with the control group, the allele frequencies of HLA-B*56 (0.56%), B*70 (0.24%) obviously increased (RR = 2.2546, 6.2598, χ(2) = 5, 5.98, P < 0.05), while the allele frequencies of HLA-A*03 (3.45%), A*30 (4.86%), B*13 (8.75%), B44* (3.25%), B61* (5.70%), DRB1*07 (8.23%), DRB1*15 (14.21%) obviously decreased in patients with leukemia (RR = 0.5889, 0.7187, 0.7359, 0.5713, 0.7127, 0.6242, 0.7976, χ(2) = 19.23, 9.82, 14.33, 20.48, 11.99, 33.21, 11.56, P < 0.01). It is concluded that HLA-B*56, B*70 alleles seem to be characterized by the genetic susceptibility to leukemia and may be served as risk markers for leukemia occurrence, while the HLA-A*03, A*30, B*13, B*44, B*61, DRB1*07, DRB1*15 can be considered as genetic indicators for resistance of leukemia.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Alleles ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; genetics ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Leukemia ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the polymorphisms of human platelet antigen (HPA) 1-16 and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A and -B loci among ethnic Han population from Shandong.

METHODSA total of 588 samples from platelet donors were genotyped for the above loci with sequence-specific primer PCR and sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe PCR.

RESULTSThe frequencies of HPA-la, -1b, HPA-2a, -2b, HPA-3a, -3b, HPA-4a, -4b, HPA-5a, -5b, HPA-6a, -6b, HPA-15a, -15b were 0.9974, 0.0026, 0.9456, 0.0544, 0.5417, 0.4583, 0.9983, 0.0017, 0.9889, 0.0111, 0.9903, 0.0097, 0.5434 and 0.4583, respectively. The HPA-7-14 and HPA-16 showed no heterozygosity as the b allele was not detected in such loci. The most common genotypic combination for HPA was HPA-(1,4,7-14,16,17) aa-2aa-3ab-5aa -6aa-15ab (0.1820). HLA-A2 (0.3070) and HLA-B13 (0.1361) demonstrated the highest frequencies at their respective loci.

CONCLUSIONThe HPA and HLA loci are highly polymorphic among ethnic Hans from Shandong. The distribution of HPA polymorphisms also shows a great ethnic and territorial difference. It is important to construct regional database for the genotypes of HPA and HLA loci for platelet donors.

Alleles ; Antigens, Human Platelet ; genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; statistics & numerical data ; Blood Donors ; China ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Genotype ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Male ; Polymorphism, Genetic